𝙳𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝙳𝚊𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚎𝚛

Twenty-Two

Over the next few weeks, Isla tried her hardest to get ahead and not fall behind when she was out of school for the upcoming competition that would decide the Olympic team.

Isla was sitting at the kitchen island working on, at least trying to work on, the math homework she had in front of her when the garage door opened and startled her. She calmed down quickly after and went right back to work.

"Hey, munchkin. What are you doing?" Jay asked his daughter as he removed his shoes and walked further into the kitchen. Hailey entered the kitchen to get a glass of water before taking off her shoes.

"Isla. Isla! Isla Marie!" Hailey called out to her daughter.

Jay and Hailey walked to the kitchen island, where Isla worked on the math homework. Isla's parents knew that math wasn't Isla's best subject, and she sometimes went into tunnel vision when working on math homework, which is what they figured was currently happening.

Hailey reached out to grab her daughter's hand, startling her again but acknowledging her parents were home.

"Hey baby," Hailey said to her daughter softly. "How long have you been working on this math homework?"

Isla looked over at the clock the family kept on the kitchen counter, seeing it was now 6:45. Crap, I've been working on this since 3, Isla thought to herself.

"Isla? How long?" Hailey asked again.

"Almost 4 hours," Isla whispered, hoping her parents wouldn't hear her but knowing they would.

"Almost 4 hours?" Jay asked, "When was the last time you ate?"

"I don't remember," Isla responded, hanging her head low.

"Ok, Isla, pack up your homework. Jay, go grab your daughter something to eat," Hailey instructed her husband and daughter.

Jay walked over to the pantry, where they kept snacks for this. Isla continued to sit in the chair she was sitting in, staring at the piece of paper in front of her.

"Isla, put your homework in your backpack," Hailey told her daughter.

That was when the tears started falling down Isla's face. Isla had been burying her feelings down; the nerves had been building for weeks about her upcoming competition and the stress from trying to get ahead.

Hailey hugged Isla, letting her out all of her emotions while Jay packed up Isla's homework. After a few minutes, Isla calmed down and pulled away from her mother.

"What's wrong, munchkin?" Jay asked, laying a comforting hand on Isla's back.

"I'm just stressed out, everything is just building up, and today I guess it just exploded. I'm trying to get ahead in school before the competition next week, and it's just making me anxious." Isla told her parents truthfully.

"Munchkin, you're going to be just fine. You're already ahead in your classes, and it's just another competition. That's all it is!" Jay told his daughter, bringing her into a hug.

"You're right; it's just another competition," Isla responded, nuzzling her face deeper into her father's chest.

"Why don't we have a movie night?" Hailey suggested, knowing that always helped calm Isla down whenever she got stressed out.

Isla nodded and decided to change into comfy clothes before picking a movie in the living room. Jay and Hailey joined their daughter on the couch a few minutes later. They watched several films, and Isla's stress faded away.

~~~~

Jake and Isla sat in the cafeteria the next day at school, waiting for Kailey and her boyfriend to join them. Jake could tell Isla was tense, knowing how hard she's been working to try and get ahead so she wouldn't fall behind when she missed school for the competition.

"You doing ok, babe?"Jake asked her, grabbing her hand and intertwining their fingers, hoping it would bring Isla out of whatever kind of slump she was in.

"Yeah, I'm ok. I'm just tired and stressed," Isla answered honestly. She was hoping after the movie night she had with her parents the night before, her stress would not return, but the second she got to school, it came back in full force.

"You're going to be just fine, baby. It's just another competition, and you and Ranger will rock it. Just take it day by day," Jake told her, kissing the side of her head and placing his arm around her shoulders.

"I know, it's just terrifying. This is the Olympic team I'm up for; it's not some random competition; it's the Olympic team. I don't want to make a fool of myself," she told him.

"You're going to be ok! You and Ranger have been excellent in each competition you've competed in; this won't be any different," Jake reassured her.

"You're right," Isla agreed, cuddling into Jake's side.

"I don't think Kay and Mitch are coming; you wanna go?" Jake asked her.

"Yeah, let's get to class," Isla said, getting up from her chair and letting go of Jake's hand to put her hoodie back on, before grabbing Jake's hand again and heading off to class.

~~~~~

The days leading up to the day Jay, Hailey, and Isla had to leave for the competition in Las Vegas were going by quickly. Isla had already packed everything for herself and Ranger and put Ranger on the trailer to Vegas.

Isla was set to go to the airport in the morning; she was excellent regarding schoolwork, and everything was nominated for her to go to Vegas to compete for a spot on the U.S. Olympic Equestrian team.

Her nerves were an up-and-down roller coaster all week, she tried everything she could think of to help calm her nerves, and nothing worked. She was running on barely any sleep, her nerves not allowing her to sleep, and if she did rest, it was only for 3 to 4 hours at most.

Deciding she had had enough, she walked out of her bedroom and to the bathroom, rummaging through the medicine cabinet, hoping she'd find some melatonin pills to take; sadly, there were none.

"DAMN IT," Isla yelled, instantly regretting it, knowing her parents would be awake and would come looking for her.

A minute later, Hailey walks into the bathroom, seeing her daughter in a frantic state, hands on the counter and breathing heavily.

"What's wrong, honey?" Hailey asks her softly, laying a hand on her daughter's back.

"I - I - I can't - sleep," Isla said slowly, trying to calm herself down. I've hardly been sleeping recently; I want to sleep,"

"Oh honey, come on." Hailey said, "Let's get you in bed, and I'll stay with you until you fall asleep,"

Hailey led Isla back to her room, where the two lay down and cuddled. Hailey started playing with Isla's hair knowing it would always help her fall asleep when she was younger; she just hoped it still worked.

"You're going to be ok," Hailey whispered. She kept whispering words of encouragement in her daughter's ear.

Within 10 minutes, Isla was out cold.